Biology

Although lacking a physical body, Spiritomb projects its appearance out of a small rock called the Odd Keystone. The rock is trapezoidal in shape and has two small dots. There is a crack running down the middle, splitting in two near the bottom. The crack in combination with the two dots appears to form a frowning face. Spiritomb's projected appearance is an ethereal composition of swirling purple fog. Its face is set in the middle of the fog and contains green, crescent eyes that are connected to its jagged mouth. Its pupils are composed of a spiral and it is sometimes only seen with one. Swirling around its face are green orbs with yellow centers.

Spiritomb is formed by the collection of 108 spirits being trapped in an Odd Keystone due to misdeeds. Some Spiritomb are up to 500 years old. As seen in the anime, Spiritomb can be just as aggressive and destructive as the spirits that it is composed of. It will lash out at anyone with little thought, often exercising short sightedness in its pursuit of vengeance.

Trivia

Its Diamond, HeartGold, and SoulSilver Pokédex entries states that it was formed from 108 spirits. Spiritomb's number in the Sinnoh Pokédex is 108, its Defense and Special Defense base values are 108, and it weighs exactly 108.0 kilograms. This is based on the number of temptations a person must overcome to reach Nirvana in Buddhism.

Prior to the introduction of the Fairy type in Generation VI, Spiritomb was one of the only two Pokémon that had no weakness (without the aid of an Ability) along with Sableye.

Spiritomb and Sableye were commonly hacked to have the Ability Wonder Guard, as this made it immune to all direct damage due to having no weaknesses. This hack is commonly referred to as Wondertomb.

Origin

Spiritomb is based on a Jibakurei, a spirit bound to a single place. It is also based on a Buddhist tradition performed on New Year's Eve in Japan. A bell is rung 108 times to chase away the 108 temptations in order to achieve Nirvana. The wisps of spirits surrounding its face also resemble a set of prayer beads, a possible reference to Japa. It may also be based on a crystal ball.

Name origin

Spiritomb is a combination of spirit and tomb.

Mikaruge may be a combination of 甕 mika (jar or urn, referring to it being a container of souls) and 軽石 karuishi (pumice) or 御影石 mikageishi (granite; both refer to its base, the Odd Keystone).

In other languages

Language

Title

Meaning

Japanese

ミカルゲ Mikaruge

From 甕 mika (jar or urn, referring to it being a container of souls) and 軽石 karuishi (pumice) or 御影石 mikageishi (granite)